Many Paths

Leading to, connecting with

divers places, people, parts, ideas;

always going somewhere,

 doing something 

for a reason or routine;

tracks trodden, worn or venturing

into the unknown, beckoning,

 seeking refuge, necessity

or to satisfy curiosity. 

Defining boundaries, safe passage 

along lines of least resistance;

nothing like a Roman road

conjoining A to B - shortest route,

these meander, willy nilly

but with directional geo-sense

like migrating birds and beasts orienting and cued

by long-distance gravitational fields and starlight,

naturally curving topographically.

Or on a short-term scale

 like your garden

wandering to your pond or shed, 

the log-pile or stable, the cess-pit

or water-tank.

Local. But still wobbly, off-centre

from the lineal;

 restful, easy on the mind and eye

in the roundabout way that words unfold, assemble, carry meaning;

or how the tracery of multitudes of veins, nerves wreathe and wiggle

around sinew, muscle, organ, bone:

tree roots likewise.

No two alike,

not a straight line in sight.

5/7/23